The Burnt Rose
by ThePineconeAuthor
Summary: When pestered by Terminus to enter New Rome, Harley reveals his dark secret, in which he gets nostalgia and a terrible flashback. Read to find out... (sorry I'm bad at summaries) Rated T for possible violence
1. The Reveal

"HALT!"

A statue bust on a pedestal roared.

"Terminus, chill!" commanded Leo Valdez, a hispanic descendant of Hephaestus

"I will not, 'chill', Leonidas! The last time weapons were smuggled into New Rome and Camp Jupiter, you and your stupid flying ship with catapults blew everything up!"

"Hey, I was possessed! Also, it wasn't exactly my fault..."

Leo and the Hephaestus cabin were in New Rome, to visit Jason and Piper who where constructing statues and Mythomagic cards of Kymopoleia and the other gods. But to do that, they needed to get through the boundaries of the city, and that was the hard part.

Demigods and legacies walked all around them in the peaceful plaza, visiting the bakery for some fresh croissants, buying fruit from the stands, and enjoying their rare life as adults. In fact, having a boy arguing with a statue and yelling that he was possessed was one of the LEAST strangest things they had ever seen in their life.

"I don't care who's fault it was! You attacked the city! But never mind that. The Pontifex Maximus invited you all, correct? So just place all your dam weapons down and you can go!"

Leo reluctantly put down his tool belt and Archimedes sphere while Terminus eyed him warily. His assistant, Julia ran back and forth collecting the crazy yet dangerous gizmos and gadgets the demigods had on them. Terminus gave each demigod an evil eye before stopping at Harley David.

"Terminus, just let him through. He is harmless." assured Jake Mason

"Quiet Graceus! I sense a powerful weapon on him!"

"Look," Nyssa Barrera said, "we known him ever since he came to the camp and..."

"Julia, get the metal detector." Terminus said through clutched stone teeth as the little boy crouched, scared.

Shane sighed, if Harley had a weapon, he would've busted it out already, proud to show his high-tech flamethrower or exploding shurikens. The Hephaestus cabin stood on the other side patiently, their hands seeming to be building nonexistent machines. After all, they were ADHD and children of the Tinkerer god.

But Harley just stood there, as the Terminus bust flew off the pedestal and flew all around Harley, seeming to scan him along with Julia.

"Child, lift up your sleeve." Terminus said in a tight voice as his scanning and Julia's metal detector spotted the same thing.

"Why, so Harley can show his armies?" Leo said dryly

But Harley knew. He clutched his jacket sleeve tighter, sweat forming on his palms.

"Harley, are you okay? What is under there?"

Harley shook his head. While he could be an overly excited child, he opened his mouth and no words came out. He felt like he was burning, and this time it had nothing to do with his heritage to the fire god. He wiped his hands on his pants, and Terminus floated closer.

The Hephaestus cabin watched him, all their faces curious and stern. Even Julia tilted her head.

"Harley, just lift it up."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, even Terminus gasped as he lifted his arms and they saw his hand change. Really, ripples were made on the hand like an illusion and it revealed Harley's metal hand.

"Harley...is your other hand..."

Harley shook his head, but he was feeling dizzy. He had nostalgia...

"Well..." Terminus talked about rules and more rules, but Harley couldn't remember any of it. Only the past...

The explosion...the automatons...the wisps...the burnt rose...

Everything faded into darkness as he closed his eyes and his cabin members rushed over to him.

 **Hey guys and Vsauce Mich...nvm just ignore me.**

 **Anyway, in this story we now know little Harley has a metal arm! What will happen next? What will his flashback be? If a tomato is a fruit, then is ketchup a jam?**

 **Plz follow and read my other stories**

 **Thx y'all -Matt:)**


	2. The Visit

"What is there not to thank? I have a strong baby boy!"

Harley suddenly remembered this soothing voice, and tears stung his eyes as he tried to remember the face of the person.

"The boy...he'll..." the other voice cracked. This one was gruff, but still seemed to be gentle, "he'll attract many dangers and monsters in his life, and no one can run forever. He even might be..."

"He won't." The soothing assured, "he'll be under our protection."

"But...look...I know you may think you can handle this, but trust me. I am a god. This is my child. We are like a beacon for monsters, and since this boy doesn't have enough power..."

"He will survive childhood." said the gentle voice now tight, "I will even risk my life to..."

Harley watched the couple arguing back and forth, all cutting each other off and trying to reassure each other. He recognized the god, with his thick beard and grease-stained overalls. Hephaestus.

And there was his mother, kind and gentle, who was a nurse that also did 3D printings of limbs for disabled people all over the world for free. The limbs could move and act like a real arm, hand, or leg. Of course people sent her money and food anyways, and that was how she maintained her business and raised her baby boy for a few years.

Harley remembered that a big company named Triumvirate who hired his mother to help design the structure and limbs of some kind of golden statue of a greek god. Maybe Apollo? While working on the angle measurements and molding the proportional metal casts, she attracted the attention of Hephaestus, who fell in love with her skill in craftsmanship, generosity, kindness, and the greek god statue job. Or at least that is what Harley has been told.

In this flashback, he saw what he assumed was himself: a small child building lego set intended for ages 16+. The boy looked innocent, young and curious. The boy was to wrapped up in building the Big Ben and Sydney Opera House at the same time to even pay attention to his bickering parents.

"Never mind that," Hephaestus continued, "you know the company you work for?"

"Yes?"

"It is possible the Triumvirate may relate to Greek and Roman cultures. I advise you quit the company or finish quickly."

"I will just finish my part and leave, thank you very much." his mom grinned comically, "besides, I love Greek and Roman cultures."

"Well, then I am sure you would enjoy this rose. Fiery and sweet. Just like someone I know."

They chatted on for a while before Hephaestus had to report back to Olympus.

Right then, Harley watched his mother tuck the rose in her hair and gently lay him down in a crib made of automatons. The mobile clicked and spun as the little gears moved a dragon around and around in circles. An automaton blacksmith bent down and up to hammer a piece of metal. The crib cage also had little metal orbs sliding up and down each tube over and over. Yes he was getting old for it, but he loved the machines. While other demigods would find that clicking and whirling is a strange way to relax, the children of Hephaestus loved it.

That was when something bad happened. As soon as the god smiled and teleported away leaving a grease scent behind, a loud explosion occurred.

3 men walked into the building, all standing tall and regal.

"Ms. David?"

"Yes that is me."

"It appears like your work on the Colossus Nerosis is done."

"Nerosis? I thought it was Apollo."

"That was what I was meant to say. Anyway, we have also detected something in this building that could have terrible consequences."

"Consequences?"

"Nero, will you please?"

One man stepped up and cleared his throat, "Ms. David, you should reveal whatever was in this room."

"What?"

"Say, I dunno, a briefcase, notes, gods, **demigods?** "

Harley watched his mother chuckle nervously before the man named Nero spoke, "Ms. David?"

"There is no god or any demigod whatever that is."

"Please repeat that."

"There is no god. I have nothing and there is no logical way I have met one."

"Well she seems not to be lying." whispered one of the men. They huddled together for a while before talking again.

"Ms. David, the Triumvirate Holdings thanks you for our services and honesty. Unfortunately, we will have to kill you anyways, you know too much. "

"What? I don't know anything!"

"Huh, I have seen you peeking at the designs for the Colossus. The ways you examined the moving parts and said you were lost when we caught you. I am sure that although you don't know anything about the gods, you know about the destruction crew. Commodus finish him."

A man left out as quick as lightning and swung his fiery blades. Harley screamed at this, but it was a flashback. Then, the man dropped a bunch of vials of glowing orange liquid that swirled with color, like molten lava.

"Well how ironic that this is going to bring a building where sightings of the fire god has been reported." The liquid erupted into a blazing flame. Harley only recognized it now, Greek fire.

He watched his 5 year old self scramble out of the crib as soon as he felt the heat. He was a child of the fire god after all, and Harley looked to see his dying mother.

"Go..." she coughed, startling the little boy, "Camp...Love...You..."

Those were her last words, and Harley watched himself wail as he clutched his dead mother's hand, and when he pulled his hand out, he saw a rose. The rose.

The boy grabbed at the flower, and he screamed as the fire charred his flesh. Harley doubled over, crying even harder as he clutched his smoking hand with intolerable pain.

Then, Harley smashed his hand and extinguished the fire on his hand, still crying. The flames were growing and the heat was right in front of his face. Sweat dripped everywhere, and despite the thoughts of his 5 year old self, the water didn't put out the fire.

If he were to die, he was going to end up with his mother. One way or the other.

As the fire was only a few feet away, he watched it hit a gas tank. There was a loud explosion as the boy who was blacked out watched himself black out in a flashback.


	3. The Protector

Heat. There was only heat and more heat.

Harley opened his eyes. His skin had a bunch of rubble bits and gravel, stinging the cuts and scraping against him. It was painful.

Most important of all, his hand. It still clutched the rose, but the petals were wilting. They were charred, black and crisp, almost like they were dead.

That also perfectly described his hand.

He didn't know whether to get sick or cry. It looked mutilated, floppy and messed up. Soot covered the worst of it, but Harley could only cry as he saw this flashback and the image of his hand of the second time.

He breathed in and calmed down. Then, he started wondering how he survived the gas tank explosion.

That was when Harley saw what was above him. A large metal dome stretched above his head, and it was filtering all the smoke and preventing suffocation.

But how had it gotten there?

As he weakly sat up, still trembling, the dome started to unfold. Kind of like animated origami or something.

As the canopy slowly disappeared from over his head, he watched the fire also slowly die down. Harley still had to register what happened to him.

His mom died. His house burned down. By fire. There were 3 scary men. With swords. His mom died. His house burned down...

Was it all a dream?

*Creak Creak*

Harley jolted up and saw a metal soldier. It's armor shined and it wielded a bronze sledgehammer, but it was still cool and impressive to little Harley. The arms were made of tubes with metal orbs sliding up and down, clinking and clanking softly. It stepped forward, and extended a hand. Although the mobile wasn't visible, Harley recognized his metal crib, which had turned into a protective canopy and now a miniature version of Talos.

*Creak?*

Harley smiled as he took the hand, his tears sliding down his grubby face, making little lines that stood out in the dirt and rubble. However, his other hand was still hidden self consciously.

"Do you want me..." The robot paused as Harley spoke softly, "to follow you?"

*Creak* It nodded.

Harley stepped in unison with Talos, and they walked slowly as they exited the building.

The police and rescue men were jabbering on and on, not noticing as they walked around them.

"I swear Steve, there are no survivors! We don't even know what started the fire!"

The cool breeze blew in Harley's face and he watched as the news station appeared, with their helicopters and vans, all filming the ruined building.

The Talos-statue still walked on, barely glancing at anything around it, but still wielding the sledgehammer menacingly.

They walked on and on, making small talk and still walking until even the robot started slowing down. Harley, on the other hand, was really tired and hungry. The robot stopped at a local 7-11, buying a few snacks, before continuing to trudge on.

They turned another corner and Harley had collapsed, exhausted and sleepy. He weakly called for the robot, but it was only an automaton.

He felt a shadow loom over him and a snuffle sound like a pig.

"Well, Nanette, we got him now."

"Why yes we do! Thank you for helping!"

"You are welcome!"

Watching the flashback, Harley screamed, tears stinging his eyes. He only recognized the monsters now, blemmyae, but at the time, he had no idea what monsters they were; he didn't even see their faces.

"It is good we caught a demigod! Look at his hand! What do you think happened? What do you think the parent god or goddess is?"

"Thank you for asking! I don't know either of the questions!"

"Thank you for attempting to answer, Jim!"

"You are welcome!"

The young boy was tired, weak, famished, and had been through a lot in one day. He was too sleepy to scream, and his vocal cords hurt from lack of water.

He watched the blemmyae retrieve their weapons and grin, showing off their teeth that were so yellow, it could've slowed down traffic.

"How much will the Triumvirate pay for him?"

"I have no idea, Edd, but I want the majority, thank you very much."

"If we even get money, I should get the most, boys, no offense, but I am the hardest worker around here. Commod named me Blemmyae employee of the month!"

"None taken, but I was named that title last month! And I..."

Harley had never taken anything for granted ever since there was a loud CLANG!

"How rude, Edd's fake head was taken off! My gracious!"

Harley watched Talos swing his hammer, slamming into Edd again, and this time, it wasn't just a fake head that was knocked out.

The other blemmyae jumped, but Talos caught it's legs. It punched and a loud CLANG! was hear again. There were several dents in the automaton. The robot wrestled the beast until it grabbed both it's legs and arms like a captured hind deer and threw it at the sky. Yellow monster dust rained down as Jim disintegrated.

The last blemmyae, Nanette, hopped away, clutching a box of matches and about to trigger the greek fire she had planted near them. As she threw the matches, Talos kicked the crate of the vials, and they both exploded in her face, leaving her dress and her attitude smothering.

"Golly gee, that wasn't even nice at all! It is time Nanette will..."

Harley didn't even watch as Nanette was destroyed by a powerful war hammer. It glanced at Harley once again and titled it's head.

*Creak?*

In it's outstretched hand, there was a family sized bag of snacks and the other hand pointed to a bench, indicating a nap.

All doubts Harley had about this robot disappeared. He ate half of the bag and closed his eyes under the cool night sky, trusting the robot that stood guard next to him.

His last sight of the night was a group of stars seemingly to appear out of nowhere in the dark blanket above. Harley learned later that it was the Nightshade constellation, based off a lieutenant of Artemis.

But that wasn't important. It had been a long day.

 **Hey guys, it's Matt again!**

 **I am sorry it uploaded a bit late; I had been working on the first half for a few days, cuz writer's block and things like that but I have more ideas for Chapter 4!**

 **So, Harley survived because of his Talos statue robot. He witnessed the Zoë Nightshade constellation birth and met the blemmyae!**

 **What is a good name for Talos? (No seriously) Where does he eventually get his bronze arm? (I actually planned the answer already but you can guess). Why is pizza eaten in triangles,served in a circle, but given inside a square box?**

 **Thanks for reading and especially the reviews!**


	4. The New Hope

Harley screamed as the monster descended on him.

This was about a week later, where he had woke up from the bench in the park, only to find Talos fighting a mob of monsters.

They had then started running, with many monsters tracking them down and now, after many weeks together, they were cornered.

Talos was pinned down by Earthborns, beating and smashing their six arms against the metal armor. The metal hammer lay on the grass a few feet away, but Harley couldn't carry it.

*Crea...* the robot sputtered as another dent appeared, larger and with more sparks flying.

Harley smashed a rock against a hellhound's face, but the canine just seemed dazed for a few second and returned to cornering him, with visible sharp teeth and a hot breath. The rock crumpled into dust powder.

Meanwhile, the Earthborns punched his metal soldier, each _CLANG_ striking fear into Harley's heart as the robot seemed to lose energy.

"Stop it!" yelled Harley frantically, shaking in fear and anger as the monsters circled the robot, taking turns striking.

The Hellhound jumped, startled by his voice, and Harley noticed one of it's eyes were closed. Maybe the dust got into it's eyes?

He leaped in the direction of the blind eye, and the canine circled, confused on why it couldn't see. As he did, he bolted towards the robot, which was creaking more and more, but it sounded weak and close to death as an automaton could be.

The monsters didn't notice him as he charged at them with a fist and one floppy hand. They didn't notice when Harley ducked as the hellhound pounced, letting the dog attack it's fellow monsters. They didn't notice as chaos erupted, and the robot beckoned Harley over, extending it's hand.

This time, there were no chips or sodas or benches to sleep on. Harley grasped the hand, and it came off.

He was panicked at first, but saw that the robot did that on purpose. It wanted him to take it. The Prototype Nerosis -Colossus hand.

It slipped onto his wobbly hand like a glove, meant for him. The metallic rim of the glove seemed to shrink as it fit, and the robot extended the arm with no hand, gesturing a punch.

Harley turned around and the metal arm smashed the blind hellhound into powder. It was made of celestial bronze, with imperial gold finger tips, and Harley wielded it the way the robot gestured him too.

Because he was human, Harley had faster reflexes, actual emotion and adrenaline, and panic. With the robot's knowledge, they were literally a machine, picking up the sledge hammer and wielding it now that Harley had a stronger arm and yellow powder surrounded them.

Soon, one earthborn was left, and it took off running, pumping it's six arms frantically as it wobbled on stubby legs. Harley simply threw the hammer and it sunk into the clay with a sickening _Squish!_

The monster collapsed and melted into the earth, and the hammer flew back, with earth chunks stuck to it.

"NO!" Harley screamed as the earth chunks fell off the hammer and landed on the robot once again. Two more _CLANGS!_ followed.

That was it. In the setting sun, and the dim lighting, Harley watched the tanky companion creak once or twice. It had taken a brutal beating and the clay fists finished it.

He watched in tears as he scrambled to fix the robot, fix something. But the robot chattered in morse code and extended the other arm.

 _Go to the camp ahead. Everything will be okay. Don't worry. We can make this sacrifice._

Harley watched the fist unwrap and the burnt rose was there, the one from Hephaestus and the one that survived with burns and scars. Just like him.

He gazed at the horizon. There was a forest ahead but behind that, he saw a glimmering banner and a loud cry as teens clad in orange shirts grabbed it and took off, all enjoying capture the flag.

 _Everything will be okay. We can make this sacrifice._

Harley repeated the words in his head as he walked down the road towards Camp Half-Blood.

 **So guys, there might be one or two more chapters after this.**

 **Thank you for the reviews and thank you for the awesome answers too!**

 **Please leave reviews and wait for the next chapter coming (hopefully soon)!**

 **And also, flaming eyeball, why is your bottom called a bottom when you lie down? It is technically the middle between your chest and legs? ;)**


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